{"id":10141,"date":"2022-05-10T10:17:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T10:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colibriwp.com\/blog\/?p=10141"},"modified":"2022-04-26T10:39:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T10:39:36","slug":"increase-websites-referral-traffic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colibriwp.com\/blog\/increase-websites-referral-traffic\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Increase Your Website’s Referral Traffic: an 8 Point Guide to Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

New guest on the Colibri blog: Affise. Trusted by over 1,000 happy customers worldwide, Affise is an all-in-one platform for data-loving marketers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A website is a shop window, and a communication channel between business and client. But a website is only as effective as the number of customers and potential customers who engage with it. The priority for any website owner is driving visits to their site, and more importantly, having those visits result in purchases or hiring services.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how can you increase your website\u2019s traffic? Well, social media marketing and blogging can both be effective, and of course, search engine optimization is a mainstay. There\u2019s no doubt that the<\/span> best SEO tools<\/span><\/a> will significantly boost the site traffic. There are also pay-per-click (or PPC) advertising options, although these can be expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another solution that is sometimes neglected, and that is increasing referral traffic. But what is referral traffic?<\/span><\/p>\n

Referral traffic is basically one website recommending another. It happens when someone clicks on a link on one website that takes them directly to a different site. Following links in this way is of course the internet\u2019s MO, it\u2019s how the \u2018everything-is-connected\u2019 world works. But how can you make this work for you and your business? Well, there are various<\/span> referral tools<\/span><\/a> available. Let\u2019s take a closer look at how to grow and understand your website\u2019s referral traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

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1. Understand your referral traffic using Google Analytics<\/b><\/h3>\n

So, how can you find out if and when referral traffic is hitting your website? The answer is analytics. Through analytics, you can arm yourself with the information you need, to assess where your referrals are coming from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Google Analytics basically tracks website traffic. It can identify by default: organic traffic (from search engines), direct traffic (traffic from people that type the website or have bookmarked your site), social traffic and referral traffic. Referrers are the sites that carry the hyperlinks that lead to your site. Clicks from these hyperlinks are logged and tracked.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you run paid ad campaigns, email campaigns, or campaigns on\u00a0 other channels, these can be tracked as well. You just need to tag the links<\/a> that will get clicked and bring people to your site.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/buffer.com\/library\/utm-guide\/\"<\/p>\n

You can view your referrals and check how visitors are finding your website. Helpfully, and most importantly, it can also show you what those visitors are doing once they get to your site. This is an important piece of the picture when it comes to knowing your<\/span> website conversion rates<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how is this information accessed and presented in practice? There are basically five simple steps:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0G<\/span>o to the <\/span>Acquisition<\/b> tab.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0Go to the All traffic<\/b> tab.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0Select Referrals<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Referral<\/span><\/p>\n

    At this point you should see a table showing the sources <\/b>of your referral traffic. <\/span>You can select any date range<\/b>, in order to focus on specific time frames.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Referral<\/p>\n

    Now, perhaps you\u2019ve partnered with another site to drive traffic, or you\u2019ve embarked on a new<\/span> content marketing strategy<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Whatever the situation, looking at analytics is enlightening.<\/span><\/p>\n

    You could see how traffic from a specific source evolves during certain periods, how that specific traffic converts. You can even segment by country and device.<\/p>\n

    Next you could include those good-performing sites into your strategy. Maybe you could publish an article there, decide on a mutual promotion strategy, etc. One way of doing this is developing a referral program. This is a win-win strategy. Here’s more info on best referral programs<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Now let\u2019s look at steps you can take to actively drive that traffic and increase referrals.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    2. Get listed inside directories<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Publishing your website on online directories is an effective but simple way to drive referral traffic.\u00a0 The advice here is to be targeted and focused. Don’t publish on every directory available.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Focus on your industry sector and search out directories that have a high referral traffic rate. It\u2019s also important to think local. Consider which directories cater to your city or geographical area and check which are the most popular.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    And take a look at that, the folks at Moz have prepared a list of such directories, by category<\/a> and city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    3. Guest blogging<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Guest blogging is another great way to get visits your site. Most blogs have external links embedded in their biographies, stories, and calls to action.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The most useful blogs are going to be on websites specific to your industry. Reach out to website owners and bloggers, and suggest them a topic they can’t refuse. Make sure you research the topic and the current blog content of the website you’re reaching out to.<\/span><\/p>\n

    For example, the folks at ConvertSquad<\/a> published an article with the title “Psychology Concepts to Apply in E-Commerce Web Design and copy”, on the Design Your Way website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    They published an article that speaks of e-commerce design on a design website. ConvertSquad is a blog that talks about e-commerce. See the relevance of the topic for both sites?<\/p>\n

    When you blog, remember to use your own name. This may sound obvious, but although hiding behind a pseudonym might be useful at times in the online world, it\u2019s counterproductive when blogging to drive traffic to your company.\"External<\/span><\/p>\n

    When blogging, look at the style of other posts and articles on the site, and consider the audience and what interests them. Look for a way you can both stand out, especially with your blog post heading, yet fit naturally among the other posts.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span>4. Commenting to blog posts<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Blogging is most definitely time consuming,\u00a0 but commenting on blogs can also be really effective and much cheaper in terms of your valuable time.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Commenting as often as possible can drive SEO and create referral visits to your site. But be careful about what you say in the comments. You must be relevant and positive, and you should avoid bragging, humble or otherwise, as it\u2019s far more obvious than you might realize to the reader.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are a few tips for good practice with comments:<\/span><\/p>\n